No Need For Spring
by Enigma Echidna
Summary: Knuckles is invited to a high society ball and society is trying to change his feelings for Julie-Su. What will happene to everyone's favorite echidna couple.


Knuckles and other characters are trademarks of SEGA,  
DIC or Archie Comics.  
Strife & Mayu-Gi are characters owned by me. The  
characters I don't mention are mine, and well they  
didn't play as big a part.  
"Yume wa Doko e Itta? (Where Have Dreams Gone?)  
(Opening theme of Tenchi in Tokyo)  
Lyrics by Natsuko Karedo  
Composed by Kyoko Matsumiya  
Arranged by Masami Kishimura  
Performed by Linda Yamamoto  
(Pioneer LDC)  
My Japanese tutor and I did the translation to the  
song. If you like the MP3 and are an AIM user I can  
send it through there. You could also try bear share  
to DL it as  
well.  
  
  
Characters:  
Knuckles  
Julie-Su  
Lara-Le  
Archimedes  
Espio  
Vector  
Ray  
Mighty  
Charmy  
Kommisar  
Kragok  
Remington  
Wynmacher  
Dimitri  
Brotherhood of Guardians  
Strife  
Mayu-Gi  
No Need For Spring!  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
  
The moon was full and shinned brightly over the  
island. It gave off such a romantic glow, that it made  
every couple felt the essence of love. Even a certain  
echidna couple had fallen victim to the moon's  
romantic curse. Knuckles and Julie-Su lay down  
together on the new soft spring grass and looked at  
the stars above them.  
Each one enjoying the company the other gave while  
they were also enjoying the spring evening. Knuckles  
turned his head and sighed upon Julie-Su's beauty. He  
couldn't believe that two months ago she would have  
been out of his life forever. Everything about  
Julie-Su turned him on. Her beauty, smile, smarts, and  
attitude were all a turn on that the young echidna  
found appealing. She was strong just like him, a  
perfect woman, and his dream woman.  
Though many would denounce the idea of someone from a  
status of noble birth marrying or even dating someone  
of such low status. Oddly enough Julie-Su was not of  
such low status, as others in the populace would  
believe. She was a distant cousin of the guardian.  
They both descend from the same family tree, though  
her ancestor chose power over the safety for others,  
they were still family, descended from a highly  
respected great-grandmother, Kayla-La. It would seem  
that the populace had forgotten that part of the  
guardians genealogy, or they probably denied that the  
guardians themselves had any link to their enemies. If  
that was the case, then it could be understandable of  
how the people felt. They felt as if their current  
guardian was turning his back on them and would press  
upon them the evils that they have been taught to  
fear. For who would want a guardian married to the  
enemy, or even producing an offspring with them.  
*****************************************************************************  
Inside Echidnaopolis, every member of high society  
meet in an elegant ballroom decorated with roses and  
carnations. Mosaics telling the story of Cinderella,  
and Snow White covered the walls of the room. The room  
itself glowed with light from the crystal chandelier  
hanging from above. All echidnas that was present in  
that room had a great deal of influence on politics.  
Some were old money and some were new money that  
attended the party. The only thing that would make  
them equal would be their prim and proper views of  
society and the way it should be governed. All of the  
echidnas in that room believed that "their" young  
guardian should marry someone of his class, someone  
who would be better welcomed by society...by them. " I  
can't believe he would associate himself with that  
girl.  
Why my daughter Katri-na, has many gentlemen callers.  
Just the other day Brombones was with her shopping. I  
wouldn't mind him marrying my daughter, but I would  
prefer the guardian himself to pay a call to her. It  
would be nice to have him in the family. He would keep  
Brombones and that disgusting low class teacher  
Ichabob in check", said snooty Lady Demeter-Re, whose  
elder daughter Persepho-Ne fell for a low class  
gravedigger named Hades, she was still furious with  
her daughter for that. " Well if you ask me, it could  
a phase. All teenagers have a phase they grow out of  
eventually. The boy will come to his senses soon  
enough. You'll see." piped old man Strife. You see  
when old man Strife talked everyone listened. His  
family had owned the same company for countless  
generations and was the wealthiest person in all of  
Echidnaopolis. It was rumored that he bought votes for  
one of his friends, but that was never proven. "What  
we can do in the mean time is try to get the guardian  
to come to our next party. There we will have him  
dance with our daughters. By then he would have  
forgotten about that brazen hussy."  
Every member in the room seemed to be in a trance at  
the thought of having the guardian grace his presence  
upon them. Maybe it was the way old Strife had said  
it, may be not. Either way they knew the guardian  
would come, because they knew that all guardians would  
eventually have to meet society. They had always known  
the guardians to be highly refined and cultured  
echidnas. Though they were taught to be those things,  
Knuckles would rather be himself and not something he  
is not.  
To the elite status it meant everything and having a  
guardian in the family was something that everyone had  
dreamed about, as well as the elevation of status and  
power. With that thought in mind they toasted.  
******************************************************************  
  
It was late when Knuckles had walked Julie-Su back to  
her apartment. Tired the young guardian decided to  
spend the night as his mother and stepfather's  
apartment. Knuckles plopped onto the soft sofa in the  
living room. He gave a big yawn a fell asleep. A big  
smile curled around his beak as he began dreaming  
about  
Julie-Su.  
The next morning Knuckles awoke with a dreamy look in  
his face. With a stretch, he got up from the sofa and  
walked into the kitchen. Wynn was in the shower while  
his mother had already awakened and was in the middle  
of making breakfast. Knuckles came up from behind her  
and gave her a big hug. "Morning Mom," said cheerful  
Knuckles. Lara-Le turned around and gave her son a  
peck on his head and then turned around to cut up some  
fruit for breakfast." So, how was your "date""?",  
chuckled Lara-Le. Knuckles looked at wondering how she  
knew that he was with Julie-Su last night. "You were  
talking in your sleep and it sounded like it was fun."  
Knuckles blushed after what his mother had  
said."Oh.um.Er... yeah it was a fun dream", said a  
bashful Knuckles. Knuckles walked towards the kitchen  
table. He noticed that the mail had come in and on top  
of the stack of new mail was an envelope addressed to  
him. Knuckles picked it up and examine it closely. He  
took one of his sharp knuckles and began to slice a  
side of the envelope. He then took his two of his  
fingers and began to pull something out of it. Lara-Le  
had just sat down with her son after placing breakfast  
on the table."Whats that you got there"" asked his  
mother while she sat down at the table. Knuckles  
looked dumbfound at the card, while handing it to his  
mother. "Looks like you've been invited to a ball  
tonight at the Winstaff Hotel", smiled Lara-Le as she  
took a sip of tea." I'm not going," began Knuckles.  
"The people at those parties are a bunch of snobs.  
They judge people without getting to know them, its  
short notice and.. and.....""And they don't like  
Julie-Su", concluded Lara-Le. Knuckles look into his  
mother's eyes as if saying "yeah." "Knuckles, you know  
by now that not everyone treats the other the same  
way. Take the way some of the populace are treating  
the Dingoes as well as Julie-Su. In life you have to  
take things one at a time, though we may look  
different we are still the same inside", pointed out  
Lara-Le " I guess I should go then. What could go  
wrong, and maybe dad and the guys have some advice  
they're willing to share", sighed Knuckles as he began  
eating breakfast.  
****************************************************************************  
After breakfast, Julie-Su headed out of her apartment  
towards Echidna Towers, where she knew Knuckles would  
eventually be. After what happened between  
Zagat and herself, she was glad to be back in  
Echidnaopolis and with the echidna she loved. Though  
she was only told of the events from Knuckles, she  
couldn't believe it. As she walked towards Echidna  
Towers, she heard a song coming from the radios inside  
the local electronic store and decided to stop and  
listen to it.  
  
By myself, I don't understand any of it! Somebody  
explain it me!  
And then once again, that person I loved so much,  
Went somewhere far away! Without anyone even noticing  
Where has the dream gone since then?  
I'm sure it must have been in this place for a very  
long time  
Even though the love was like an all-consuming flame,  
The feelings I had at that time bring them back again!  
The times with you were so nice, dreams were  
overflowing  
Painful and hurtful, a different tomorrow is here  
Just shouting, doesn't change anything in the world at  
large,  
After tomorrow, everyday tedium will surely continue  
More importantly ... even though "love" couldn't be  
said,  
Why does that love, even now, still warm my heart?  
An endless dream that I want to try to get back,  
A dream that I believed was something that would  
someday come true  
Everyone has enduring strength,  
I want to remember that again!  
Where has the dream gone since then?  
I'm sure it must have been in this place for a very  
long time  
Even though the love was like an all-consuming flame,  
The feelings I had at that time bring them back again!  
  
It was as if the song was talking about Julie-Su,  
almost asking her to stop and listen. To Julie-Su it  
was flattering. Julie-Su began on her way again, as  
she began chuckle at the thought of the song. As she  
got closer to Echidna Towers she saw Knuckles sitting  
on a bench in deep thought. She came up from behind  
him and gave him a hug. Still hugging Knuckles, she  
looked at him with her loving eyes and kissed him on  
his cheek. Knuckles instantly broke from his deep  
thought and looked at her as she began to sit down  
next to him. Sighing Knuckles looked at Julie-Su, he  
wanted to say something but he didn't know where to  
start." Knuckles what's the matter? Why are you  
looking at me like that?", questioned a concerned  
Julie-Su. Knuckles handed Julie-Su the card and she  
looked at it." So, you've been invited to a Debutante  
Ball.", chuckled Julie-Su," what so funny?", asked  
Knuckles as he took back the invite. "Just the thought  
of you even going." said Julie-Su as she try to  
control her outburst." Why do you find that funny?  
These people have invited me to go their party and all  
you can do is laugh at my own expense. You know I have  
no choice in some matter!" implied Knuckles as he got  
up off the bench. Julie-Su got off the bench slowly.  
Clearly anyone could tell she was furious at Knuckles  
for both yelling at her and not thinking that she  
didn't understand. With a movement of her hand,  
Julie-Su left a side of his face with a red mark." How  
dare you accuse me of not knowing anything about you  
at all! I'm probably the only person beside your  
family who knows you better than anyone! I don't care  
if you dance with all those girls! From the look of it  
I'd say you don't even want me around cause I'd get  
you more disliked by the populace!" shouted a very  
angry  
Julie-Su. With that said she ran off in the opposite  
direction with a tears streaming from her eyes.  
Knuckles tried to go after her, but he knew he would  
make things even worse and decided to take care of it  
later. Knuckles sighed a heavy sigh as he walk east  
towards the mall where he knew the Chaotix always  
would be. He felt bad about what he said to Julie-Su.  
She was right to slap him. She knew about what he was  
going through, better then anyone else he knew.  
Sometimes Knuckles would forget about the power of the  
soul touch, and how he could feel her feelings and  
emotions and how she could feel his." Sometimes I  
wonder if the soul touch is testing", muttered  
Knuckles to him self as he kicked an empty soda can  
down the street. Sighing again Knuckles looked up and  
noticed that he had finally made it to the mall and  
began to walk inside. His mind was wandering around.  
Part of his mind was thinking about Julie-Su, while  
the other was thinking about the ball. Sneaking up  
behind him was Vector. Tip toeing behind Knuckles,  
Vector seemed to get a jump on the young echidna,  
before Knuckles reflexes kicked in and threw the  
crocodile into the fountain. Mighty who was on the  
other side of the fountain, heard a loud splashing  
sound before he got soak by the water. He turned  
around to see what happened and stood on top of the  
fountain's walkway. He saw Knuckles trying to fish  
Vector out of the fountain." Hey I just had a bath  
today!" shouted Mighty from across the fountain,  
before slipped into the fountain himself. Knuckles  
looked up and saw Mighty fall in, distracted enough  
Vector playfully pulled Knuckles into the fountain.  
Knuckles began to laugh at the sight of three very  
soaked critters in the fountain, which cause a chain  
reaction among them.  
From a far Julie-Su saw the three in the  
fountain, all soaked and trying to get out. She looked  
at Knuckles drying himself biting her lower lip as she  
notice how hot he looked with wet fur. She wanted to  
go to him and talk about the fight, but she knew that  
it wasn't the right time to talk to him yet and a part  
of herself was telling her that it was his fault and  
not hers. It was as if Knuckles was speaking to her  
heart and saying he was sorry. Julie-Su shook her head  
and began walking in another direction. The three from  
the fountain walked over towards the food court where  
Espio and Ray were already seated with everyone's  
order. Knuckles looked at the food in front of him.  
The colors of the food on his plate reminded him of  
her. He looked at the color and with his fork began to  
play with his food. He was still lost in thought, not  
even hearing what his friends had said; he got up and  
walked away from them. Espio got up and ran up to  
Knuckles, "Whoa there lover boy we know what's wrong",  
said Espio as he placed a hand on Knuckles' shoulder.  
Knuckles looked up "You do?" Espio nodded his head.  
"Julie-Su was talking with all of us  
Earlier and she mentioned about what had happened  
between the both of you. I can't say what you do was  
right, but what I can say is that she was pretty  
hurt", said  
Espio. " I know it was my fault, but I have a lot of  
thins on my mind and I guess I shouldn't have taken it  
out on her. She was trying to cheer me up after"  
******************************************************************************  
Still feeling hurt Julie-Su walked around town trying  
not to think about Knuckles. It was so much easier  
when she was in the Legion and not thinking about ever  
finding true love. All she was concerned about at the  
time was doing her duty, being faithful, and the best  
soldier she could be. Love was never on her mind,  
never an issue, until she meet Knuckles. When she had  
her first confutation with him, she could as if  
something hidden was there. At the time she didn't  
know what it was and neither did he, but with time the  
feelings were nurtured and blossomed. She didn't want  
to throw that away. The sun began to set as Julie-Su  
walked back to her apartment. On her way back she  
bumped into Remington, who was finishing up his  
patrol. Remington saw a sign of sadness on her face;  
he placed a hand on her shoulder" Penny for your  
thoughts, Julie-Su?" hinted Remington. Julie-Su looked  
at him and smiled "Just thinking about what if I never  
had met Knuckles. What if I was still following  
Kommisar and Kragok's orders? Following the ideals  
left by Dimitri." began Julie-Su. " I just don't know  
how to act with "your kind". To me it would be easier  
to be a soldier, following orders, then to follow my  
heart. If Knuckles only knew how hard it was for me to  
show my feelings, to even share them. I guess I'm not  
truly the right person for him", sighed Julie-Su as  
she lowered her head to her chest. Remington took his  
hand and began to raise her head with it till  
Julie-Su was looking directly at his "The guardian  
cares for you more than anything else in this world.  
I've never seen him act that way with anyone before,  
nor has any one of his friends. You're his world, his  
everything. I just can't bear to see you two fighting  
or not together. You two have so much in common",  
noted Remington. Julie-Su looked at Remington. She  
knew he was right and she hoped everything would be  
fine." But how long will it last", frowned Julie-Su as  
she walked away and into her apartment.  
************************************************************************  
With the sun setting in the horizon and the  
islanders getting on with their lives, Knuckles was in  
Haven getting fitted into a tuxedo. Sabre had just  
placed the finishing touches onto Knuckles' tuxedo  
before Locke and Spectre had walked in the room with  
Archimedes on his shoulder. The three members of the  
Brotherhood looked at their young guardian and were  
pleased at how refined and regal he looked. Not in  
their wildest dreams could they've thought that  
Knuckles could pull this off. Knuckles was still  
wondering about Julie-Su and the party when he lost  
his train of thought." Knuckles, my lad", said Spectre  
as he looked over Knuckles once more." These people  
may rub you the wrong way, but please try to act on  
your best behavior." Locke eyed his son as he picked  
up a red rose and placed it into lapel." Have fun and  
be yourself", said Locke. Knuckles smiled and hugged  
his father. Archimedes jumped onto Knuckles shoulder  
"And now if you excuse us, I must say this boy has a  
party to go to and we wouldn't want him to be late",  
with that Knuckles and Archimedes disappeared into a  
pouf of smoke.  
******************************************************************************  
Julie-Su sat down on her big soft sofa wearing nothing  
but a blue bathrobe. The room was dark but it glowed  
from the light of the moon. Her locks were dripping  
wet from the shower she had just taken. She looked out  
her sliding glass door to where she had placed her new  
potted plants. Her mind was still on Knuckles and  
nothing else. She picked up a picture of Knuckles and  
herself off of the table next to her, trying to hold  
back her tears." Why do you have to be difficult, huh?  
I thought I could handle you, but I guess I was wrong.  
He never acted like that towards me. He never yelled  
at me in that manner at all." sighed Julie-Su as she  
took her ring finger and drew Knuckles outline with it  
on photo before her tears fells onto it. Julie-Su  
placed the picture faced down as she buried her face  
in her hands.  
She loved him more than anything else in the world.  
Julie-Su feared that she might never know the love  
that she had with him ever again. Any of the male  
populous of  
Echidnaopolis would reject her, because of her past.  
She already had people spitting at her, blaming her  
for things, and just plan hurting her feelings.  
******************************************************************************  
Inside of the Winstaff Ball Room, all of high society  
meet with their daughters. The room looked the same as  
the night before but with one big difference...the  
guardian would soon arrive. In the middle of the room  
a great big puff of smoke appeared in front of  
Echidnaopolis elite. All in the room were amazed at  
the sight of smoke, thinking it sort of rude for  
someone to do such a tacky thing. The smoke cleared  
and out stepped Knuckles, looking very handsome and  
somehow gentle. All the young girls in the room look  
at Knuckles as if he was a tasty piece of Godiva  
chocolate. Knuckles looked at the crowd of people in  
front of him and then he looked at Archimedes as if  
saying "thanks a lot" Out of the crowd appeared Strife  
and his extending hand. "Good evening guardian, glad  
you could make it", said Strife as he shook his hand  
and patting him on the back. Strife walked Knuckles  
over to a buffet table where they would talk some  
more." It is such an honor that you could came and  
hang out with "us" ", said old man Strife as he tried  
to act like a youngster again. ""Uh...yeah it is",  
said Knuckles as he looked around the room staring at  
he pictures on the wall, " I hope..." began Strife as  
he was cut off by his granddaughter Mayu-Gi and a  
bunch of her friends. "You shouldn't have him all to  
yourself grandfather", cooed Mayu-Gi as she took  
Knuckles' right arm. Knuckles looked at her and was  
speechless. She looked like Julie-Su except for her  
eyes, which were hazel. Knuckles closed his eyes and  
shook his head. * I can't be going crazy. Do I miss  
her that much*, thought Knuckles to himself. Mayu-Gi  
smiled as he saw Knuckles shake his head and began  
pulling him to the dance floor.  
Hours had past by and Knuckles had danced with  
every girl in the room. It didn't feel right to be  
there with these people. All through the night he  
heard them talking about what they thought was best  
for him and that, which made him uncomfortable.   
Money, politics, Dingoes, and the Dark Legion were all  
a hot topic among the older members in the room. Among  
the girls were topics like clothes, money, boys and  
Julie-Su. This made Knuckles frown when he heard them  
talking about her in such a hurtful way. What hurt him  
the most was when he danced with the girls and how  
they ask him hurtful questions about Julie-Su. All  
through the night he couldn't take his eyes off of  
Mayu-Gi, that he danced with her for most of the  
night. He was never asked by her to dance with him,  
but the other way around. Maybe it was because how he  
felt about Julie-Su and the way he wanted to make up  
with her.  
It was close to midnight when Mayu-Gi brought Knuckles  
out on to the balcony. The view was amazing from where  
they were. It seemed endless from where they stood.  
Knuckles looked at Mayu-Gi in what was left of the  
moonlight's glow. He placed his hands on her face and  
kissed her passionately, but felt nothing. He didn't  
get the feeling he got from kissing Julie-Su, which he  
got from Mayu-Gi. Whenever he kissed Julie-Su he felt  
full of life, full of happiness, the happiness that he  
always wanted. Knuckles took his hands off her face.  
Upon taking them off he noticed he left purple  
handprints on Mayu-Gi's face. Knuckles looked at his  
hands, "What the?", said a confused Knuckles. Mayu-Gi  
looked him all teary eyed and placed her hands on her  
head taking off her wig. Then she took out a tissue  
from out of her glove, wiping off the face paint. "I'm  
sorry that I did this, but grandfather made me do  
this. He wanted a way to make you forget about that  
girl. He thought it best if I looked like her."  
confessed Mayu-Gi. Knuckles couldn't believe what he  
was hearing. "Please don't leave me", pleaded Mayu-Gi.  
Knuckles looked at her "You played with my feelings  
and thought that by dressing up as her could change my  
mind. I admit that it almost worked, but it didn't. I  
still love her more than ever now."  
With saying that Knuckles jump off from the balcony  
and caught a rather strong breeze that carried him far  
away from the ball room.  
Still feeling bad, Knuckles glided towards  
Julie-Su's apartment. He didn't know what to say or if  
she was still awake. Instead of buzzing her on the  
intercom,  
Knuckles picked up some pebbles and threw it against  
the glass of the sliding door. Julie-Su, still laying  
on the sofa awoke to the sound of something hitting  
glass.  
She noticed something or someone was throwing pebbles  
at her glass door. Julie-Su got up and walked over to  
the door so she could yell at the person who was doing  
it. She began to open the sliding door and walked out  
onto her terrace. Knuckles stood there watching her  
coming out of her apartment. Julie-Su saw Knuckles  
standing below, she stood there almost about to smile  
when she noticed lipstick on Knuckles' lips. Feeling  
crushed and betrayed Julie-Su picked up a watering can  
next to her potted plants and threw the remaining cold  
water at Knuckles and walked away. Knuckles  
dumbfounded and drenched stared at his love returning  
back inside of her apartment. He began whipping his  
face dry when upon his cuff he noticed pink lipstick,  
the same that Mayu-Gi was wearing when he kissed her. 


End file.
